Biden Urges NI Parties to Restore Power-Sharing

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Facts

  • During a speech in Belfast on Wednesday, US Pres. Joe Biden urged for a political compromise in Northern Ireland (NI), calling on political leaders to restore their power-sharing government.1
  • Biden — who arrived in Belfast on Tuesday evening to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement — also hinted that US companies were prepared to 'triple' their investment in the country's economy to $6B.2
  • The 1998 signing of the Good Friday Agreement marked the ending of three decades of sectarian violence known as The Troubles. The violence took place between largely Catholic Irish republicans, who sought a united Ireland, and predominantly Protestant pro-British unionists who wished to remain part of the UK.3
  • NI is part of the UK, while the Republic of Ireland remains part of the EU. The Good Friday Agreement established a power-sharing administration in NI that has been suspended since February 2022, as unionist parties refuse to take their seats in protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol.4
  • As part of his four-day trip, Biden spent just over half a day in NI — where he met British PM Rishi Sunak and leaders of NI's main political parties — before leaving for the Irish Republic for two-and-a-half days of speeches and meetings with officials and relatives.5
  • Biden's trip comes two weeks after MI5 said the terrorism threat level in NI had increased due to a rise in activity by dissident republicans, with an illegal parade held in Londonderry on Monday, which saw petrol bombs thrown at police cars. The following day, police found four suspected pipe bombs inside the grounds of the City Cemetery in Derry.6

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2Guardian, 3CNN, 4CNBC, 5Reuters and 6BBC News.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Associated press. Biden has sent a clear message to the Democratic Unionist Party about the need to get back to work and restore the country's power-sharing dynamic. With his very strong track record of supporting the peace accord, his guidance is fitting. However, the future of NI is in the hands of the assembly, and they need to get it together and do what's best for the country.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Independent. Despite Biden's optimistic speech, the political situation in NI hasn't changed, and power-sharing isn't the answer. Biden — touting his Irish heritage to legitimize his opinion — is dangling the promise of money to push his own agenda, but the words of a foreign politician who is so clearly pro-nationalist, anti-unionist, and anti-British won't change anything.

Predictions